Hazelwood Students Appointed to the Missouri 1st District Congressional Youth Cabinet

Four (HSD) seniors are among the first students in the area appointed to the Missouri 1st District Congressional Youth Cabinet (CYC), led by U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay.

Devan Morton and Brittney Watkins of , along with Jocelyn Redding and Jonathan Segers of Hazelwood Central High School are among 48 high school students from across St. Louis City and St. Louis County chosen to advise Congressman Clay and his staff on national and local issues that impact young people.

Congressman Clay deems the CYC a first of its kind interactive civic youth engagement that is on-going, and said in a statement from his office that it “will provide top students with a path to become advocates for the issues that matter to them.”

During the cabinet’s first meeting, Clay said the cabinet the real deal, adding that it isn't something that will just look good on a college application. The plan is to do real work.

“This is not just a nice honor or a passive appointment," he said. "This is an exercise in real youth civic engagement.

"The new CYC will give me a direct link to the things that really matter to you and have an impact on your life."

Clay also told the student that he needs their opinions in order to do his job better.

"I need your voices, your energy, and your personal investment in this endeavor, to help me do my job better," he said. "You are going to discuss the most important issues facing our nation and our community.”

The students learned about the program from their Advanced Placement Government teachers.

Morton said she’d like to be “an influencer." She thinks the CYC will give her a good feel for understanding the community, what to do and what to expect when helping others, she said in an HSD statement.

"I want to get involved and help out,” she said.

Redding said in an HSD statement, that she's looking forward to having an impact on the community and having a say.

"I think they’ll actually listen to what I’m saying," she said. "As a young person, I don’t feel as if we’re making an impact because we can’t vote yet."

For the next year the teens will meet and discuss issues and solutions to problems youth face.